'Smile 2' Will Feature a Key Player From the First Movie
'Smile'
The psychological horror movie Smile was a huge indie success story in 2022, making more than $200 million worldwide on a budget of less than $20 million. So it’s no surprise that a sequel was quickly greenlit by Paramount, especially since the final moments of the movie left things wide open for a follow-up. Here’s what we know so far about Smile 2, including release date and cast.
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What is Smile 2 about?
Parker Finn, the writer and director of Smile, is returning to write and direct the sequel, so fans of the original can count on a pretty consistent tone. No plot details for the sequel have been released as yet, but the original 2022 movie centered on a therapist, Rose (Sosie Bacon), who witnesses a patient cut her own throat while smiling eerily. That bizarre suicide triggers a series of similarly dark events which lead Rose to delve into her family’s dark history and question her own sanity.
“I do think that there is still a lot of interesting stuff to explore in the world of Smile. There certainly are stones that I left unturned by design,” Finn told The Hollywood Reporter, before the sequel had been officially confirmed. “If there’s more to be done with Smile, I would never want to just repeat myself or retread the same ground. I’d want to make sure that there’s a new, exciting, fresh way into it that the audience isn’t anticipating. I also want to find some new ways to scare them and unnerve them.”
What happens at the end of Smile?
Smile ended on a memorably bleak and disturbing note, with Rose falling prey to the demon she’s spent the entire movie running from. The death of Rose’s patient turns out to be part of a grisly chain of suicides where possessed people have killed themselves, while smiling, in front of another person, thus passing the curse along to the witness.
Rose tries to end the cycle by fleeing to a remote location (her abandoned childhood home) to kill herself in isolation—but at the last moment, her ex-boyfriend Kyle bursts in just in time to see a smiling Rose setting herself on fire. Although it’s never confirmed, the viewer is left to assume that Kyle is now cursed, so it's possible the sequel will see him trying to find a way to stop the demon without passing on the curse to anyone else.
What is the release date for Smile 2?
Smile 2 will be released in U.S. theaters on Oct. 18, 2024.
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Who is cast in Smile 2?
Since Smile ended with the death of its protagonist, it’s no surprise that there will be a lot of new faces in the mix for the sequel. Kal Penn, who played Rose’s boss in the first movie, has confirmed to Screenrant that he’s not appearing in the sequel, which seems likely to be the case for many of the OG actors. However, there’s at least one major cast member who is definitely returning…
Kyle Gallner
Gallner will reprise his role as police detective Joel, who was Rose’s ex-boyfriend and bore witness to many of the most disturbing incidents in the original movie (including her shocking fate).
Rosemarie DeWitt
DeWitt’s movie and TV credits include La La Land, Rachel Getting Married, Mad Men and HBO’s scripted miniseries The Staircase. Her role in Smile 2 hasn’t yet been revealed.
Lukas Gage
Gage has been all over prestige TV in the past few years, appearing in The White Lotus Season 2, Fargo Season 5 and Love, Victor Season 1. His role in Smile 2 hasn’t been revealed.
Naomi Scott
Scott’s credits include the Netflix series Anatomy of a Scandal and Disney’s 2019 live-action Aladdin remake. Her role in Smile 2 is also under wraps.
Will Sosie Bacon be back for Smile 2?
Unless there's a plot twist we don't see coming, Bacon will not be back for Smile 2. Her character died at the end of the first movie.
Is there a trailer for Smile 2?
There isn’t a trailer for the movie just yet, since production just recently wrapped in March of 2024. The sequel was originally announced during the Paramount presentation at CinemaCon 2023, where studios often debut trailers for their biggest new releases. This year’s CinemaCon is taking place on April 8-11, 2024, so keep an eye out around that time.
